Our mystery animal is the Burrowing Sea Urchin

Because of its burrowing behaviour, the Burrowing Urchin can play an important role in changing the structure of coral reefs, and this can effect what other things live in the reef.
 
Sea urchins belong to a group of animals called the Echinodermata, which means ‘spiny skinned’. Other Echinoderms include feather stars, sea stars, and brittle stars. Sea urchins have many hard plates beneath their skin that form a hard protective shell, known as a test. Once the sea urchin dies, the test remains intact and can often be found washed up on the beach.
 
Curious for more? Head to the link below to discover more about these amazing sea creatures.

 

Learn more here!
Learn more about Echinoderms here!